Preparing the boat and the journey to and from the race will undoubtedly be as great a challenge as the row itself. It is also the facet of this expedition that cannot be done by those of us in the boat alone.
To that end I have started to seek out the support of friends whose loyalty, enthusiasm and staying power I know I can count on, but who also have particular skills that we need to make this a success.
Paul whom I have known since I was five is an accountant. He’s a dead cert when it comes to advice on finance and is a huge bonus to be able to nail down so early on. Mind you given that I have been talking to him about this for the past 6 years at least, he’s not exactly new to the idea.
Linda, who works with me is a brilliant administrator, facilitator and organiser and has experience in media and graphics. I couldn’t get over how quickly she bought into this idea. She already has a print of the boat stuck to the wall behind her desk. (Already defaced by my crab fat colleague, Rob, who in deference to my Naval heritage has added a couple of torpedoes and a forward deck mounted gun!) She read Debra Veal’s book, ‘Alone’ in two days and ‘got it’ instantly.
She has taken on the role of interim banker, whilst I wait to decide where and with whom to open a savings account. Given that every penny counts, I have been selling vegetables and my chicken’s eggs from in front of the house. On the target thermometer that she has created on her computer, £50 doesn’t look great against the £100,000 we might need, but it’s not £100,000 anymore is it, it’s £99,950!
I have recently started prospecting on Mark who works in IT and whose kids I discovered go to the same very mini rugby sessions on a Sunday morning. To be fair, you can’t expect everyone who gets excited about the idea when you first tell them about it to seriously jump in the boat so to speak, but he was enthused so we’ll see where it goes. We shall certainly need IT support, right from the get go.
Monday, 2 September 2013
August 10th
Since I came back from North Wales, I have been continuing with the day to day of working in the NHS and keeping up with everything that we would all consider normal. Except that now, each physical task has a slant.
I have about 100 metres of mixed species wild hedge and leylandii that has to be cut back every year. On an average year it is a chore but from now on it becomes another exercise for the shoulders and arms to be relished; a small contribution to a greater goal.
This is nothing of course, but until I can get together with a partner or be forced to go it alone, anything I can do at least allows me to move in the right direction.
In the last two weeks I have changed my work routine so that I do four or five hours in the office in the mornings, come home to do some exercise and rest in the afternoon and then go back to work until midnight. It makes for a long day, but this way I get to see the children too and I recognise that as something that a lot of dads do not get to do.
It took nearly a week for my thighs to recover from the pounding they took in Wales, but since then I have been swimming again, out on my bike and running. In the short term I have listed these simply by date and distance purely as a record to gauge my improving fitness.
A friend, Ollie, from Wymondham has a rowing machine that he has intimated he may let me have. Since this is now everything about stretching pounds, I am hoping that his sponsorship will be in the form of this machine, even if only on loan, but I shall have to wait and see.
I have about 100 metres of mixed species wild hedge and leylandii that has to be cut back every year. On an average year it is a chore but from now on it becomes another exercise for the shoulders and arms to be relished; a small contribution to a greater goal.
This is nothing of course, but until I can get together with a partner or be forced to go it alone, anything I can do at least allows me to move in the right direction.
In the last two weeks I have changed my work routine so that I do four or five hours in the office in the mornings, come home to do some exercise and rest in the afternoon and then go back to work until midnight. It makes for a long day, but this way I get to see the children too and I recognise that as something that a lot of dads do not get to do.
It took nearly a week for my thighs to recover from the pounding they took in Wales, but since then I have been swimming again, out on my bike and running. In the short term I have listed these simply by date and distance purely as a record to gauge my improving fitness.
A friend, Ollie, from Wymondham has a rowing machine that he has intimated he may let me have. Since this is now everything about stretching pounds, I am hoping that his sponsorship will be in the form of this machine, even if only on loan, but I shall have to wait and see.
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